Mental Calisthenics

Some people have physically taxing jobs. Others have jobs that they are equally physically and mentally challenged. I, on many days have upwards of 9 hours where I might not have to leave my desk, barring a personal break. I'll have someone knock on my door, or my phone will ring, and I'll realize I haven't looked away from my computer screen for literally hours. some days, I can work without disruption, and then, my mind will go blank, mentally exhausted from reviewing charts of data, tiny line by line narrative in a piece of legislation or a proposed bill. When that happens, I am virtually useless until I do a complete restart of my brain. Mind wandering exercises are a necessity when I am locked into doing reports and writing issues briefings.

There's the usual, get up, stretch, take a short walk, get a cold drink, get a hot drink, etc. in hopes of shaking the cob webs. The physical break from the desk is critical, but it doesn't often help me restart my brain so I can get back on task. That's when I need to improve my brain game. I'm a numbers person. I like to calculate minute details of things, like cost and distance. Here might be one of the conversations in my head, planning a driving vacation, as I take my mental break. "How many miles between St Paul and the Black Hills, South Dakota. Well, if it takes 12 hours driving time, with two 30 minute breaks and a 15 minute break, and the average speed is 60 miles per hour, I estimate it is 640 miles." So close. Travel Math estimates it at 612 miles between St Paul and Rapid City. I'll also do a similar exercise, in reverse, like plan a grocery trip, with a capped budget, for a weekend worth of meals. "If I want to be under $25, what can I buy to supplement what's in the pantry..."

I imagine this is how smart people like engineers figured out how to send people to the moon, or a chemist tries figuring out the right ratios of chemicals and compounds to create a vaccine. I use my mental calisthenics to plan vacations and grocery trips. Just the same right? I am a big fan of Excel, and using spread sheets to calculate out when the numbers, time, or distance gets too big to hold it all in my brain. I love figuring out how the formula's work. Here is snap shot of a retirement calculator I created based on mine and DH's current and future plans. Now I know there are dozens of retirement calculators, but creating one that is customized to us, was an exercise I used last year to unclog my brain when I was trying to simplify a 36 page report into five bullet talking points. 

401K
50	16	368,000	1.06	390,080	408,080		54	16	300,000	1.06
51	17	408,080	1.06	432,565	454,565		55	17	342,000	1.06
52	18	454,565	1.06	481,839	505,839		56	18	386,520	1.06
53	19	505,839	1.06	536,189	560,189		57	19	433,711	1.06
54	20	560,189	1.06	593,800	617,800		58	20	483,734	1.06
55	21	617,800	1.06	654,868	678,868		59	21	536,758	1.06
56	22	678,868	1.06	719,600	743,600		60	22	592,963	1.06
57	23	743,600	1.06	788,217	812,217		61	23	652,541	1.06
58	24	812,217	1.06	860,949	884,949		62	24	715,694	1.06
59	25	884,949	1.06	938,046	962,046		63	25	782,635	1.06
60	26	962,046	1.06	1,019,769	1,019,769		64	26	829,593	1.06
61	27	1,019,769	1.06	1,080,955	1,080,955		65	27	879,369	1.06
62	28	1,080,955	1.06	1,145,813	1,145,813		66	28	932,131	1.06
63	29	1,145,813	1.06	1,214,561	1,214,561		67	29	988,059	1.06
64	30	1,214,561	1.01	1,226,707	1,157,707		68	30	1,047,343	1.01
65	31	1,157,707	1.01	1,169,284	1,100,284		69	31	1,022,816	1.01
66	32	1,100,284	1.01	1,111,287	1,042,287		70	32	998,044	1.01
67	33	1,042,287	1.01	1,052,710	991,210	ss	71	33	973,025	1.01
68	34	991,210	1.01	1,001,122	954,622		72	34	947,755	1.01
69	35	954,622	1.01	964,168	917,668		73	35	922,232	1.01
70	36	917,668	1.01	926,845	880,345		74	36	896,455	1.01

If you can see the detail, you'll see the age that DH and I stop putting money in, stay flat a few years (using cash savings) and when and how much we start drawing down. I included a cost of living adjustment to the interest rate. If all pans out, according to this, I can retire at around 59 1/2, DH at 62, two years before me, and our 401K/my pension will last until I am 94 and DH is 98. I don't know if that is enough, too much, too little? I have a second chart for our Roth, which I think will get us both past 100. 

These are the things I do when I need a work break. Other people do Sudoku, crosswords, or read People, I play with Excel. I'm weird this way. Your turn. How do you dust your personal mind clutter, and recharge your brain?